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Berezkin/Duvakin Catalogue of Motifs
English translation, enhancements and additional metadata by Jonathan Fielder-White
Source: Berezkin and Duvakin's Analytical Catalogue · Original catalogue (Russian)
About the catalogue and its sources
Unless otherwise stated, narrative and tradition data comes from Berezkin and Duvakin's Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area (Analytical catalogue).
Original Berezkin/Duvakin catalogue (Russian)
The English translation uses AI assistance alongside manual verification. Errors may occur; consult the original source when in doubt.
E - Origins of people and culture
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | The creation of man. | The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account. | 164 | 311 |
| E1a In E1 family | The first humans made of fragile materials. | The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable. | 13 | 19 |
| E1a1 In E1 family | Soaked by rain (why there are cripples). | A deity or ancestor moulds people from clay. Some of the figures got wet, which is why there are cripples among people. | 3 | 9 |
| E1b In E1 family | Man made of unsuitable material. | A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. | 61 | 81 |
| E1b1 In E1 family | Prohibited work for a daughter-in-law. | A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears. | 12 | 12 |
| E1c In E1 family | Man made of excrement. | Man made from human excrement or (Inupiat) from carrion. | 36 | 31 |
| E1d In E1 family | Clay boats. | (The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material. | 9 | 15 |
| E1e In E1 family | Son-stalk. | The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk. | 2 | 3 |
| E2 | People on trial. | When creating humans, the creator does not immediately achieve perfection. The first versions of the creation are rejected, then the appropriate form and material are found. See motif E1A. | 31 | 47 |
| E3 | New people from the bones of the old. | After the destruction of the previous world, new people (rarely: new earth) are made from the remains of the dead. | 14 | 14 |
| E4 | Creation from mud on the skin, A1263.3. | From mud on the skin (rarely: from under the fingernails), the character creates the earth, people or other creatures. | 36 | 62 |
| E5 | The half-finished man tries to stand up. | God makes man out of clay. He must wait until it dries, but tries to stand up earlier. | 9 | 5 |
| E5a In E5 family | People from the underworld, A1234. | The first humans (or only the first men or first women) were not created by a demiurge, but emerged from under the ground (from a cave) or from a small object on its surface (a tree, stone, pumpkin, etc.). There are many emerging humans (or humans and animals). Cf. motif E5B: first ancestors from the underworld. | 144 | 323 |
| E5aa In E5 family | People grew like grass. | The first people grew out of the ground like trees, grass, and mushrooms. | 20 | 24 |
| E5b In E5 family | First ancestors from the underworld. | The first human (a group of brothers) or the first human couple emerge from underground (from a cave) or from a small object on the surface (a mound, a reed, a tree, a stone, a pumpkin). Cf. motif E5A: people from the underworld. | 73 | 114 |
| E5c In E5 family | People from the sky. | The first humans or deities-ancestors descend to earth from the sky. | 124 | 207 |
| E5d In E5 family | The predator watches over those who leave. | The first people to arrive on earth and settle within a limited space are threatened by a predator or monster. | 21 | 24 |
| E5e In E5 family | The two-headed creature does not come out onto the ground. | People or animals come out from under the ground or descend from the sky. The two-headed creature following them gets stuck in the opening or is not allowed to come out. | 10 | 7 |
| E6 | Because of a woman, the connection between worlds is broken. | When a woman of childbearing age (she is menstruating, miscarrying, pregnant, with a child, or simply fat) tries to pass from one world to another, the connection between the worlds is severed forever. | 27 | 43 |
| E6a In E6 family | The path through water. | People walk across a (frozen) body of water to reach their current place of residence, while some remain on the other side or drown. | 6 | 12 |
| E7 | Stuck in a hole in the sky. | The path from one part of the world to another passes through a narrow opening. The character gets stuck in the opening, permanently severing the connection between the worlds. | 23 | 23 |
| E8 | Wooden people. | The first humans or the wife of the first ancestor were made of wood. | 66 | 84 |
| E8a In E8 family | People in fruits. | Women or people in general emerge from fruits (often coconuts), or fruits or, less commonly, leaves turn into people or only women. Cf. motif k33c. | 11 | 17 |
| e8b In e8 family | Woman hides in a fruit. | A woman hides inside a fruit brought into the house and comes out when no one is around or when the fruit is cut open. | 19 | 22 |
| e8c In e8 family | Woman hides in a splinter. | A woman hides inside a splinter or branch brought into the house and comes out when no one is around. | 27 | 33 |
| E9 | The Unknown Mistress, N831.1. | The character notices that someone is running the house in his absence and catches the person doing so by surprise. | 227 | 453 |
| E9a In E9 family | The magical wife - the fox. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. | 13 | 17 |
| E9aa In E9 family | The fox wife in the burrow of all animals. | A man searches for a missing woman, who is a fox by nature, and comes to the burrow where she has hidden. Various bird or animal women come out of the burrow and offer themselves in place of the fox. Then they let him inside. | 4 | 6 |
| E9b In E9 family | The magical wife – the elephant. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of an elephant (elephant tusk). | 7 | 8 |
| E9c In E9 family | The magical wife – a hoofed animal. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a large hoofed mammal (buffalo, antelope, moose, etc.). | 31 | 49 |
| E9d In E9 family | The magical wife – the dog. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dog or puppy (wolf cub). | 40 | 70 |
| E9e In E9 family | A puppy received as a reward. | An animal or object received by a young man from supernatural beings as a reward for his kindness, upon the young man's return home (to earth), turns into a girl. | 24 | 34 |
| E9f In E9 family | The magical wife – the parrot. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot. | 18 | 50 |
| E9g In E9 family | The magical wife - the vulture. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. | 20 | 34 |
| E9h In E9 family | The magical wife - the dove. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a dove. | 74 | 104 |
| E9i1 In E9 family | The magical wife – the swan. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a swan. | 58 | 117 |
| E9i2 In E9 family | The magical wife – the duck. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck. | 20 | 26 |
| E9i3 In E9 family | The magical wife – the goose. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a goose. | 32 | 24 |
| E9i4 In E9 family | The magical wife – the crane. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) takes the form of a crane. | 10 | 11 |
| e9i5 In e9 family | The magical wife - the snail. | Before meeting the hero, his wife takes the form of a snail. | 4 | 8 |
| E9j In E9 family | The magical wife – monkey. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a monkey, or the man hides the woman and pretends that the mistress is a monkey. | 20 | 24 |
| e9j1 In e9 family | Monkeys - ancestors of humans. | Humans are considered descendants of monkeys. | 4 | 4 |
| E9k In E9 family | Husband-honey (bee). | The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee. | 10 | 15 |
| E9l In E9 family | The magical wife – mouse. | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat). | 14 | 13 |
| E9m In E9 family | The magical wife – the bear. | A man marries a bear (white or grizzly) that takes the form of a woman, or a woman who takes the form of a bear. | 16 | 29 |
| E9n In E9 family | The magical wife – an aquatic mammal. | A man marries a female seal, seal or dolphin that has taken the form of a woman and lives with her among people. | 15 | 18 |
| E9o In E9 family | The magical wife – a frog or a toad. | A man marries a woman who has the appearance of a frog or toad. | 38 | 48 |
| E10 | Young animals turn into children. | Characters who have shed their animal (plant, object) forms become the children of women or spouses who catch them off guard. | 31 | 39 |
| E11 | Burnt skin. | The future family member reveals himself or remains with the person after the object that defines the character's non-human appearance is destroyed. After the person destroys (usually burns) the discarded animal skin, the character retains his human appearance. See motif E9. | 194 | 315 |
| E12 | The living drawing. | A character draws an object or creature on sand, ash, a wall or the surface of water, and it comes to life. | 25 | 30 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.